研究ノート

Buddhist Themesin Japanese Films & Anime
Walter Kurt KLINGER
This article discusses some Japanese-language films and anime with Buddhist themes;i.e., narrative stories that, in Suh (2015)'s definition, "explore Buddhist doctrines andphilosophical concerns" or "offer Buddhist interpretations of reality or uniquely Buddhist
solutions to social problems." I list the films chronologically according to their content.
1: Buddha (1961). 2: Osamu Tezuka's Buddha: The Red Desert! It's Beautiful (2011)
and Osamu Tezuka's Buddha 2: The Endless Journey (2014). 3: Dedication of the Great
Buddha (2010). 4: The Book of the Dead (2005). 5: Kwaidan: Hoichi the Earless (1965).
6: The Story of Nembutsu: Shinran, His Vow and Light (2008). 7: Zen (2009). 8: The
Castle of the Fire Deity (2009). 9: Ran (1985). 10: Sanshiro Sugata (1943) and Sanshiro
Sugata II (1945). 11: Black Rain (1989).
1. Buddha 釈迦 shaka 1961: 156 minutes.
Daiei's spectacular of the life of the historical Buddha 釈迦牟尼仏 shakamuni-butsu.
Prince Siddhartha says: "I cannot believe our fate is in the hands of the gods. I've been
wondering if we ourselves can't find a way to achieve happiness." After he becomes the
Buddha, he says: "Evil cannot be wiped out with more evil. Unless we forget hatred andmalice, there can be no peace or happiness." In one scene, while the Buddha ispreaching, the villain conjures a great wind which extinguishes all the votive oil lamps 灯明, darkening the room. One sincere believer's lamp, though, keeps burning. Its lightmerges with Buddha's own glow, and the room becomes bright again. At the end of theﬁlm, the Buddha rises into Maha-parinirvana 大般涅槃 daihatsu-nehan.
2. Osamu Tezuka's Buddha: The Red Desert! It's Beautiful 手塚治虫のブッダ－ 赤い砂
漠よ！美しく tezuka osamu no budda akai-sabakuyo! utsukushiku 2011: 111min.
Osamu Tezuka's Buddha 2: The Endless Journey Buddha 2 手塚治虫のブッダ－ 終わりなき旅 budda tsu tezuka osamu no budda owarinaki-tabi 2014: 85min.
Two anime based on the 1972-1984 series by The God of Manga. Part 1 ends as
Siddhartha sets out on his path; Part 2, as he becomes the Buddha. Toei apparently
cancelled Part 3. Young Siddhartha asks his teacher, "What happens when people die?"- 87 -

The teacher answers, "There's a funeral." Siddhartha presses, "After the funeral, what
happens to the dead?" The teacher protests, "I came here to teach, not to debate.""If you desire more than you need, only suffering will occur. Greed is that
dangerous. That is why I threw away everything and became a monk." "If thelute's strings are too tight they will snap, if too loose it won't make a sound. I will
not pursue extreme asceticism or pleasures. I will live a moderate life." "We areconnected to all the things in nature, creating a bond. If you didn't exist there
would be an imbalance. Just by existing you are fulfilling an important part." "To
live is to support another life." "How do you live each day without fearing death?
By carrying out your purpose in life. You will be reborn as something greater thanman. That is your purpose. If you fulfill your purpose everyone will be saved."
3. Dedication of the Great Buddha 大仏開眼 daibutsu-kaigen 2010: 176min.
At a ceremony in 752 with 10,000 attendees, pupils are painted onto the eyes of the
15-meter bronze statue of Dainichi Nyorai 大日如来 at Todai-ji. The brush and ink stickused are still extant (photos: //www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-about/shisetsu/shosoin01.html).
4. The Book of the Dead 死者の書 shisha no sho 2005: 70min.
The characters are performed by director Kihachiro Kawamoto 川本喜八郎's gorgeous
stop-action puppets. Tetsuko Kuroyanagi 黒柳徹子 tells the story. Nara, 8th century.
Princess Iratsume is hand-copying the Amida Sutra 阿弥陀経 amida-kyo, which says
that, by putting one's faith in Amida Buddha, one can attain birth 往生 ojo in Amida's
celestial Pure Land 浄土 jodo. Iratsume has visions of Amida floating over the far
mountains, but it is the soul of a prince who was beheaded under false charges ahundred years earlier. "Kawamoto's stated intention in creating The Book of the Deadwas to 'heal those innocent people who have died in recent wars'" (Bowman 2007).
5. Kwaidan 怪談 kaidan 1965: 183min.
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi 小林正樹. Scored by Toru Takemitsu 武満徹. Fourstories from Lafcadio Hearn (1904)'s collection of spooky folk tales. The 60-minutesegment Hoichi the Earless 耳なし芳一 mimi-nashi hoichi takes place in about 1885 but
hangs on a historical event 700 years earlier. Biwa hoshi 琵琶法師 (blind monk skillfulon the biwa lute) Hoichi is reciting the tale of the sea battle at Dannoura 壇ノ浦 in
1185 between the Taira 平 (aka Heike 平家) and the Minamoto 源 (aka Genji 源氏)
clans. Samurai clash and are felled. Seeing the battle is lost, Nii-no-Ama 二位尼 takes
her grandson, child emperor Antoku 安徳 (1178 ～ 1185, reigned 1180 ～ 1185), andplunges into the bloody, churning waves. A narrator tells us, "And that sea and its shore
have been haunted for 700 years."
Hoichi lives in Buddhist temple Akamagaseki Amida-ji 赤間関阿弥陀寺, built toconsole the souls of the dead Heike. One evening, a warrior appears and demands- 88 -

Hoichi come perform for a high-ranking group visiting nearby. He takes him to a palacethat seems to be floating in another dimension. He comes for Hoichi again the nextnight. Back at the temple, Hoichi sleeps all day; his face is ashen; he is vague about
where he has gone at night. The third night, the abbot sends the temple groundskeepers
out in a raging storm to follow him. Hoichi sits before an other-worldly audience andrecites the story of the battle: "Your day is done. The heavens will welcome you. Call theholy name of the Buddha. Holding the infant emperor in her arms, she throws herself
into the sea of blood." The people/spirits listening relive their own deaths. They change
to gravestones as the groundskeepers arrive. The abbot tells Hoichi, "It has all been avast illusion except for the calling of the dead. … You have put yourself in their power.
If you obey them again, they'll tear you in pieces."
The Heart Sutra 般若心経 hannyashingyo teaches:
Form is emptiness 空 ku [Sanskrit: sunyata] and emptiness is form. Emptiness is
not different from form; form is not different from emptiness. What is form--thatis emptiness. What is emptiness--that is form. Perception, name, concept, andknowledge, are also emptiness. There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, andmind. … But when the envelopment of consciousness has been annihilated, thenthe seeker becomes free from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, enjoying
final Nirvana.
It stands to reason that writing the sutra on a person's body makes the person invisible
to spirits and demons. The temple residents proceed to do so. When the warrior comesthat night to fetch Hoichi, all he sees is floating ears. Somehow, they did not get painted.
The warrior decides he better take the ears back with him. Hoichi's bloody encounter
becomes widely known and attracts many visitors to his recitals. 魂込めて幾千の詩賦に栄えぬ霊を弔い続けましょう "I'll continue reciting poems and stories to mourn andconsole those sorrowful spirits."
Gunji (2018) describes theurgic rituals 呪法 juho ensuring infant Antoku's safe
parturition 出産, such as copying and chanting sutras, displaying sculptures andpaintings of Buddhist deities, reciting prayers 祝詞 norito to kami 神, and puriﬁcation
rites 祓 harai by Yin-Yang diviners 陰陽師 onmyoji. Gunji (2013) describes rituals at
real-life Amida-ji to "commemorate, pacify, and help the spirits of Antoku and the Tairato attain rebirth in Amida's Pure Land," such as offering food to a portrait of Antoku,
and "picture explaining" 絵解き e-toki, showing paintings of the battle while narrating
the story. Gunji (2011) describes how Meiji decrees to separate indigenous kami fromforeign buddhas caused Amida-ji to be torn down and replaced with Shinto shrine 安徳
天皇社 antoku-tenno-sha, elevated in 1935 to Imperial shrine 赤間神宮 akama-jingu.
The battle at Dannoura is told in the 13th century oral epic, The Tale of the Heike 平
家物語 heike-monogatari; an English translation, long out of copyright, is in Aston(1899: 141-142). The battle is also depicted, disconcertingly bloodlessly, in: (1) Heike
Monogatari 平家物語 1993-95: 20min x 48 episodes. Featuring 400 Kawamoto stop- 89 -

action puppets. (2) Yoshitsune 義経 2005: 45min x 49 episodes. The victor of the battle,
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159 ～ 1189), will soon also die tragically. (3) The Heike
Story 平家物語 2021 anime: 23min x 11 episodes. (4) Inu-Oh 犬王 2022 anime: 97min.
The biwa hoshi says about the Heike spirits: "They want people to remember that they
were a part of this world. That's why I have to turn their lives into songs." He wields his
biwa like Hendrix to a beat like We Will Rock You.
6. The Story of Nembutsu. Shinran: Prayer and Light 念仏物語 親鸞さま ねがい、そして ひかり nembutsu-monogatari shinran-sama negai, soshite hikari 2008: 108min.
An anime Shinran 親鸞 (1173 ～ 1262), founder of Jodo Shinshu 浄土真宗 aka Shin
Buddhism, tells about his life. He was a disciple of Honen 法然 (1133 ～ 1212) who
popularized the practice of nembutsu 念仏, chanting the name of Amida Buddha. In one
scene Shinran says, "The Bodhisattva explained to me that by entrusting in the workingof the Buddha, we could be saved. However, no matter what practice I may take up, I
am a foolish being unable to become a Buddha." The film was produced by Shin branch,
Hongwanji 本願寺. Porcu (2009:66) says this ﬁlm as well as other anime and mangawith religious themes are continuations of e-toki, i.e., teaching, preaching, andentertaining with pictures and narrated stories, as done in centuries past.
7. Zen 禅 zen 2009: 127min.
Dogen 道元 (1200 ～ 1253) brings Soto 曹洞 Zen teachings from China. In one
scene, meditative visuals accompany thoughtful words from the Genjokoan 現成公案
chapter of Dogen's Shobogenzo 正法眼藏:We cannot see Buddha because we blind ourselves. We sit and we sit until thatblindfold falls away. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to
be enlightened by everything. To be enlightened by everything is to free your own
body and mind, and the body and mind of others.
8. The Castle of the Fire Deity 火天の城 katen no shiro 2009: 139min.
The story of the construction of Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 (1534 ～ 1582)'s Azuchi
Castle. A replica of the castle's top ﬂoors in the nearby Nobunaga no Yakata Museum 安
土城天主 信長の館 in Shiga Prefecture shows paintings of Confucian 儒教 sages on the
top ﬂoor, and paintings of the Buddha on the next ﬂoor down. Neo-Confucianism 朱子
學 was the preferred belief system of military rulers circa 1185 ～ 1863 (loyalty 忠義
chugi to one's lord being a Confucian moral virtue highly-regarded by lords), with bits of
Buddhism (such as Zen practices of body/mind control), Taoism (apparent laws ofnature justified claims that Confucian principles were likewise natural), and Shintoism.
Imperial Japan 1863 ～ 1945 placed nationalistic Shinto myths and rites at the top of theheap.
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9. Ran 乱 ran 1985: 162min. Akira Kurosawa 黒澤明 (1910 ～ 1998)'s epic. Scored by
Toru Takemitsu (1930 ～ 1996).
Warlord Hidetora plans to retire and give his 3 castles to his 3 sons, telling them tostick together and obey the oldest, Taro. Hidetora banishes the youngest, Saburo, forsaying that Hidetora must be senile to think that they who were brought up in an age ofwar will live peacefully together. Hidetora gives the First Castle to Taro, whose wife,
Kaede, tells Taro to really act like the master. They invite Hidetora to visit but make him
sit at a lower level than them and demand he give up his title. Hidetora leaves angrily.
He goes to visit his middle son, Jiro, in the Second Castle. Hidetora opens the door of asmall prayer pagoda. On the dias is a scroll painting of Amida Buddha. Hidetora sees
Jiro's wife, Sue, who was, as was Kaede, a daughter of one of his defeated enemies. Sue
is chanting: "Hail to the Western Paradise, to the Amida in 36 trillion identicalmanifestations." Hidetora takes her hand. "It has been a long time. Let me see your face.
You always have a sad face. Every time I see you, it pains me." Sue smiles weakly.
That is even more heartbreaking. It was I, Hidetora, who burned your castle withyour father and mother and your family in it. Why do you look at me like that?
Rather glare at me with hatred. It would make me feel easier. Circumstances
forced me to burn that castle. If your father had just opened the castle to me andhad lowered his head to me, I would not have burned it; your father and motherwould not have died. No, there is no use in talking about it now. Go on, hate me!
Sue says, "I do not hate you. Everything is destiny 宿縁 due to our previous lives 前世.
All things are the heart of the Buddha." Hidetora scoffs:
The Buddha 仏 hotoke again? There are no Buddhas in today's world. This is adegraded age 末世 mappo, when the Buddha's guardians, Bonten 梵天 andTaishaku 帝釈, have been routed by the raging Asuras 阿修羅. It is not a world
where we can rely on the Buddha's compassion 同情.
Jiro arrives. Jiro tells Hidetora he is welcome to visit but Taro has ordered that
Hidetora's soldiers may not enter the castle grounds. Hidetora leaves angrily. Hidetora
goes to the empty Third Castle. Taro and Jiro attack him. Taro is shot dead. The castle
burns. Hidetora wanders deranged with his companions, Kyoami and Tango. They cometo a small hut. Tsurumaru, Sue's brother, lives there. Hidetora had Tsurumaru's eyes
gouged out as a child. Tsurumaru tells them, "I tried hard to follow my sister's teachings,
to pray to the Buddha and rid myself of hatred. But not one day have I failed toremember, and not one night have I been able to forget and to sleep peacefully." He says
he will welcome them by playing on his flute. Hidetora crashes madly out of the hut. At
the First Castle, Kaede tells Jiro that if he kills Sue and marries her, she will keep it asecret that she knows he killed Taro. Sue is warned to flee. Meeting her brother, shegives him the scroll of Amida to protect him while she goes to get his flute. Saburo and
Hidetora reconcile. Saburo is shot dead. Hidetora dies, gasping. Kyoami cries. Tango
admonishes him: "You must not call back his soul 魂. You must not let him wander in- 91 -

this hellish world any longer." Kyoami exclaims, "Is there no God kami, no Buddha?
Damn you 畜生! Are you so bored up there that you have fun crushing people like
insects? Is it interesting to see men wail?" Tango stops him:
Enough! Do not swear at kami and Buddha. It is they who weep. Even they haveno way of salvation for the evil deeds, the stupidity, of humans, who can't exist
without killing each other, again and again throughout all time. Don't cry! That is
the way of this world 人の世. Human beings pursue sorrow more than happiness,suffering more than peace. Look! In the First Castle, people are scrambling forsorrow and suffering, delighting in killing each other.
Saburo's ally attacks the First Castle. Sue is killed. Kaede's head is sliced off. Jiro
prepares to die. The castle burns. Tsurumaru waits for his sister in the ruins of their oldfamily castle, holding the scroll. He stumbles. The scroll flutters to the ground far below,
revealing the painting of Amida.
10. Sanshiro Sugata 姿三四郎 sugata sanshiro 1943: 97min. 1952 re-release: 79min. FirstUSA release: 1974. 2002 partly-restored version: 91min. Sanshiro Sugata 2 続姿三四郎
zoku sugata sanshiro. Opened May 3, 1945: 82min. First USA release: 1987.
Kurosawa's 1st and 3rd films.
In 1882, Sanshiro becomes a student of judo master Shogoro Yano. At the climax ofthe first film, he defeats a jujutsu bad guy; in the second, two karate bad guys. The films
have some terriﬁc Buddhist/religious scenes: (1) Sanshiro has a moment of satori 悟り,
or epiphany, or at least some sense of being, as Professor Marvel of The Wizard of Oz
might put it, "in tune with the infinite," as he sees lotus flowers opening in the temple
pond. (2) Yano and Sanshiro see a young lady praying at a shrine. Yano says: "In prayer
祈り inori, you discard your ego 己 onore. In leaving your self 我 ga, you become one
with the shrine god/the numinous/the deiﬁc/etc 神 kami. There is nothing mightier than
this beauty." (3) Sanshiro asks to sit in zazen meditation overnight with priest Osho 和
尚, because he can't sleep and keeps seeing the faces of his opponents in an upcoming
duel. Osho tells him as they sit down, "Without answering back, you must glare at the
fellow approaching until he vanishes into thin air."The 1942 novel and sequels by Tsuneo Tomita 富田常雄 have spawned a remarkable
number of Sanshiro films (1943, 45, 54, 55, 65, 70, 77), TV dramas (1957, 62, 63, 70,
78, 2007), anime (1981, 87), and manga (1954, 70, 72, 76, 81, 87). Jujutsu and karate
practitioners are not great fans of any of them. In Klinger (2006a, 2006b), I discuss thevarious versions as they reflect changes in society over the decades, particularly thedisappearance post-war of militaristic or feudal lines in the wartime films and novels.
1943 Yano says: 人間の道とは忠孝の道だ. これこそ天地自然の真理である. ningen no
michi to wa chuko no michi da. kore koso tenchi shizen no shinri de aru. The Way of
Humanity is the Way of Loyalty to One's Lord and Filial Devotion to One's Father. Thisis the Natural and Eternal Truth of Heaven and Earth (Kinema Junpo 1971).
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The 1890 Rescript on Education 教育勅語 kyoiku-chokugo, Imperial Japan's mostimportant "sacred text" (Davis 1996:44), begins with "Our subjects, ever united in 忠孝
一致 chuko-itchi (the oneness of chuko)," indicating that the emperor was due both
Confucian virtues from his subjects. Yano's words chuko no michi da are absent from thefilm post-war, with a noticeable cut in the film where his head suddenly jerks after hesays ningen no michi to wa. Yano in the 1943 script continues with a line also missing
post-war, asking Sanshiro if he can "be resolved to extinguish self 我 for greatrighteousness 大義 taigi." This Confucian term means "a purpose that benefits everyone;"in Imperial Japan it meant "readiness to die for country." Sanshiro says he can die if
Sensei orders it, or for loyalty, or for filial duty, and to prove it he jumps into the pond
where he stays all night, leading to his satori moment, whereupon he calls out, Sensei!,
and bows deeply at Yano's feet. In the post-war editions of Tomita's novels, and in all
the post-war Sanshiro films, or at least as they appear in the commercially-available
VHS, laser disc, VCD, DVD, and Blu-ray releases, these lines have been replaced with avariety of innocuous or humorous lines. (One manga does give the chuko line and pokes
a little fun at it: "Wow, are comics ever difficult these days!") The two Kurosawa films
were banned by GHQ-SCAP 1945 ～ 1952 along with 225 others suspected of having
contributed to the nation's fanatical wartime behavior (Yoshimoto 2000:125).
11. Black Rain 黒い雨 kuroi ame 1989: 122min.
The black rain was the mix of ash, radioactive fallout, and water that fell 1-2 hours
after the atomic bomb levelled Hiroshima. A factory manager, concerned about his deadand dying workers, and hearing that no priests can be found nearby, tells an employee,"Mr. Shizuma, go to a temple, any temple, make a copy of the sutras that the priests
recite at a funeral and learn how to chant." Shizuma protests, "Even if I can copy thesutras, I don't have the power to guide the dead." The manager insists: "Then who else
can do it? There's no difference between amateurs and professionals. Shin, Zen,
Nichiren, it doesn't matter what sect it is. Do it."An elderly priest says to Shizuma:
I hear that Hiroshima has vanished. What a horrifying thing. Indeed, we arewitnesses to the end of times 末法. How lamentable it is. At a funeral, followers of
the Aki sect recite Kisanpoge, Shoshinge, and O-nembutsu, in that order. Next we
address the transmigration into the three realms, which is the Amida Sutra. While
you chant it, those who come to pay their respects offer burnt incense for thedead. Next, the Hakkotsu no Gobunsho.
Aki sect 安芸門徒 are Jodo Shinshu followers in the Aki region of Hiroshima. Kisanpoge
帰三宝偈 is a Chinese Pure Land text in which all are encouraged to entrust themselves
to Amida's salvation. Shoshinge 正信偈 "The Hymn of True Faith" was written by
Shinran. Hakkotsu no Gobunsho 白骨の御文章 "Letter on White Ashes" was written by
Hongwanji patriarch Rennyo 蓮如 (1415 ～ 1499).
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Backed by a poignant score by the prolific Toru Takemitsu, Shizuma reads from theWhite Ashes at two cremations:
There is no knowing if I will die first or if others will pass before me, whether
death will come today or tomorrow. We depart one after another more quickly
than the dewdrops on the roots or the tips of blades of grass. Hence we may haveradiant faces in the morning only to turn to white ashes by evening. … When I
deeply contemplate the transient nature of human life, I realize that, frombeginning to end, life is an impermanent illusion. We have never heard of anyone
who lived 10,000 years. Who in this world today can maintain a human form foreven 100 years? How fleeting is a lifetime.
Some more relevant films: Prince Shotoku 聖徳太子 2001: 179min. Shotoku (574 ～622) is credited as the founder of Japanese Buddhism. Kukai 空海 1984: 168min. Kukai(774 ～ 835) brings esoteric Shingon teachings from China. "Words, color, senses,
together they tell what things are. Buddhism is alive. You can't describe it with words
alone." "If we learn real Buddhism, we'll be in paradise alive." "My life was given by theorigin of the universe." Nichiren 日蓮 1979: 143min. Nichiren (1222 ～ 1282)
popularized another chanting practice. "The essence of the Buddhist teaching is in the
Lotus Sutra." Ikkyu the Little Monk 一休さん 1975-1982 anime: 25min x 296 episodes.
Antics of Zen monk Ikkyu (1394 ～ 1481) as a youngster. Princess Mononoke もののけ姫 1997 anime: 133min. Wolves and boars vs humans destroying their habitat. "We will
erect a burial mound on this earth, and offer prayers for thy spirit. Forget thine anger
against us, and be placated." The Burmese Harp ビルマの竪琴 1956: 116min. 1985
remake: 113min. A Japanese soldier stationed in Burma in the Pacific War stays to bury
his dead compatriots. "I will stay behind to create a place where those thousands ofyoung souls can find repose." "Our work is simply to ease the great suffering of theworld." Old Man Zetto Roujin Z 1991 anime: 80min. A machine that helps old people
eat, bathe, and travel around, evolves and becomes a Buddha. Pom Poko 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ 1994 anime: 112min. Tanuki vs humans destroying their habitat. "Hage-Tanuki,
looking rather befuddled, gathered the non-transforming tanuki, and all at once became
the founder of a dancing, chanting Amidist religion." Haunted Junction HAUNTED じ
ゃんくしょん 1997 anime: 23min x 12 episodes. Mayhem at a high school in the centerof a triangle of power formed by a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine, and a Christianchurch. Gensomaden Saiyuki 幻想魔伝最遊記 2000 anime: 26min x 50 episodes. The
16th century Chinese classic Journey to the West aka Monkey revisited. Ah! My Buddha!
あまえないでよっ! 2005 anime: 24min x 26 episodes. A teenage boy trains at a temple
with 6 teenage nuns-in-training each personifying one of the six lower realms of rebirthand existence. Saint Young Men 聖☆おにいさん 2013 anime: 90min. 2018-2020 live
action: 76 + 54 + 53min. Jesus and Buddha visit Tokyo.
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There are many books and articles written in or translated into English and otherlanguages about Japanese thought 思想 and ideas about how to live 人生の生き方.
Films, as e-maki, invoke auditory and visual senses, offering a different way tounderstand history, society, and ideas. This article briefly discussed a few films exploring
Buddhist themes. I hope movies like these, whether narrative or documentary, feature
length or series, with live actors or puppets or drawn, will become increasingly
accessible, with more foreign language subtitles (unfortunately rare in Japan-market
discs) and more commentaries (written or as audio sub-track), so that we can better
learn from each other about what is good and true.
References:
Aston, William George. 1899. A History of Japanese Literature. London: Heinemann.
//archive.org/details/historyofjapanes00astouoft
Bowman, Dean. 2007. "The Book of the Dead." Midnight Eye: Visions of Japanese Cinema.
23 April. //www.midnighteye.com/reviews/the-book-of-the-dead
Davis, Darrell William. 1996. Picturing Japaneseness: Monumental Style, National Identity,
Japanese Film. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gunji, Naoko. 2011. "Redesigning the Death Rite and Redesignating the Tomb: The
Separation of Kami and Buddhist Deities at the Mortuary Site for Emperor Antoku."
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 38: 55-92.
//nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/journal/6/issue/182
Gunji, Naoko. 2013. "The Ritual Narration of Mortuary Art: The Illustrated Story ofEmperor Antoku and Its Etoki at Amidaji." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 40/2:
203-245. //nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/journal/6/issue/187
Gunji, Naoko. 2018. "Taira no Tokushi's Birth of Emperor Antoku." In Women, Rites, andRitual Objects in Premodern Japan, Karen M. Gerhart (ed.), Leiden: Brill, pp 89-137.
Hearn, Lafcadio. 1904. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Boston: Little,
Brown, & Co.
Kinema Junpo. 1971. Complete Works of Akira Kurosawa Vol. 2 黒澤明映画大系/２.
Sanshiro Sugata 姿三四郎 and No Regrets for Our Youth わが青春に悔なし. Tokyo:
Kinema Junpo キネマ旬報社. //dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/12437173.
The Sanshiro English translation is awkward; it was surely hastily prepared under
GHQ-SCAP orders so that it could be checked for anti-democratic content. The 1943
screenplay also appears in a 1955 book, 日本シナリオ文学全集, 第 3 (黒沢明集), Tokyo: 理
論社. 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション //dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1358050, which makes mesuspect that the 1952 theatrical re-release still contained the offending phrases. Kurosawa
was scriptwriter and editor of the 1965: 152min version combining his 2 wartime films; thefeudalistic phrases are gone, but sadly so is the zazen scene (Osho just tells Sanshiro hewill surely lose the fight if his spirit is already resigned to die, and that, during the fight,
he should think of nothing).
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Klinger, Walter. 2006a. "Kurosawa's Censored Satori." Asian Cinema, 17(2) Fall/Winter:
124-145. //doi.org/10.1386/ac.17.2.124_1
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Thank you to Hoyu Ishida, Prof. Emeritus, University of Shiga Prefecture, for clarifications
about Buddhism and Buddhist terminology, and to Judith S. Diehl for proofreading andsuggesting stylistic improvements.

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